Percentage of children in poverty rising dramatically in some cities

Updated 11:41 am, Thursday, September 20, 2012

From left, John Verrilli, Gary Onofrio and Mike Barton enjoy a meal during the Holiday Homeless and Elderly Dinner with food prepared by Emmett O'Brien's culinary students on Thursday, December 16, 2010.

From left, John Verrilli, Gary Onofrio and Mike Barton enjoy a meal during the Holiday Homeless and Elderly Dinner with food prepared by Emmett O'Brien's culinary students on Thursday, December 16, 2010.

1/06/06 --Bishop William Lori served patrons at the Thomas Merton Center soup kitchen Friday morning. The Bishop has made a tradition of visiting Catholic Charities throughout the Diocese of Bridgeport for the new year. Bishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., has been named the 16th Archbishop of Baltimore. Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement Tuesday. Lori will succeed Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, who served as Baltimore's 15th archbishop from October 2007 to August 2011 when he was named grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

1/06/06 --Bishop William Lori served patrons at the Thomas Merton Center soup kitchen Friday morning. The Bishop has made a tradition of visiting Catholic Charities throughout the Diocese of Bridgeport for the

Eugene Johnson, who’s been homeless for four years, spends his nights behind the Fairfield County Courthouse on Main Street in Bridgeport. He stays away from shelters because, he says, they have too much crime.

Eugene Johnson, who’s been homeless for four years, spends his nights behind the Fairfield County Courthouse on Main Street in Bridgeport. He stays away from shelters because, he says, they have too much

Nearly 28,000 Connecticut residents -- many of them children -- fell into poverty in 2011, raising the state poverty rate from 10.1 to 10.9 percent, according to new figures released by the Census Bureau.

The percentage of children living in poverty in Bridgeport, Danbury and Stamford shot up dramatically in the last year to 39.9 percent, 17.9 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively.

The Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey illustrates Connecticut's economic climate as slowing, if not stagnant. The report shows a $130 drop in Connecticut's median household income to $65,753 and a rise in the unemployment rate by a tenth of a percentage point to 7.2 percent.

And while Fairfield County showed signs of pulling out of the recession, Bridgeport lagged. In 2011, Bridgeport's unemployment rate rose from 10 percent to 13.6 percent, the median household income dropped 9 percent to $35,379 and the percentage of children living in poverty rose 8.7 percentage points to 39.9 -- an increase of nearly 29 percent. Meanwhile, the median household income climbed 13 percent to $75,454 in Stamford and nearly 12 percent to $64,974 in Danbury.

"What happens when you look at county-wide data is that it masks the issues in a city like Bridgeport, which has been deeply impacted by this most recent recession and job loss," said Barbara Edinberg, director of research for the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition.

Poverty among children across the region is on the rise.

In Danbury, nearly 18 percent of youths under 18 are living in poverty -- an 80 percent jump in the city's year-over-year poverty rate, and nearly double the overall rate of poverty in Fairfield County.

The poverty rate among children in Stamford is 17.5 percent, a 47 percent increase over the 11.9 percent rate in 2010.

"Part of why we're seeing so many kids in poverty and homelessness is at the end of the day this is a very expensive part of the world and the country to live in," said Jason Shaplen, CEO of Inspirica of Stamford, one of the largest providers of services to the homeless in the state.

"The poverty and homelessness numbers are one of the most pressing issues of our time. Homelessness is already at record highs and with poverty numbers (as they are) it's clear we are going to see many more people fall into poverty before the economy turns around,'' he said.

Danbury Deputy Superintendent of Schools William Glass said about 32 percent of the district's student body was enrolled in the free or reduced lunch program two years ago. Today, more than 50 percent of the district's students are enrolled in the program. The district's quickly shifting demographic has forced administrators to implement new programs and train teachers on how to help lower income students. Glass said some of the students have moved to Danbury from places like Bridgeport because it's less expensive. They have also come from remote international communities with limited educational resources.

"It's dramatic and very disconcerting," Glass said of the rising poverty rate among students. "In my entire career, I have never seen that large a jump. It's evident that this is a different kind of generation than we've had in the past. There's the saying that you always want the current generation to have better opportunities than the last, but that's not the case now. The youngsters we're dealing with now are far more stressed and taxed than the youngsters we've had in the past."

Almost 40 percent of children in Bridgeport are living in poverty. Perhaps more startling is the staggering amount by which the city's poverty rate advanced over the last year, climbing nine percentage points. That represents a 29 percent change.

"I can't remember the last time the poverty rate among children was that high," said Edinberg, of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition. "That's a huge, enormous increase. That means if you walk down the street and you see three children -- at least one of them is living in poverty. It shows that certainly Bridgeport's children and their families are struggling."